Mike Wellman rides board-building wave

Surfboard and sailboard shaping and glassing is perhaps one of the most skilled crafts found today on Kauai. Tucked away in small glassing and shaping rooms around the island a handful of builders steadily produce quality boars for both sports.

Operating out of a factory which would rival any Oahu North Shore, Mike Wellman has gained a following for his product from Kekaha to Ha’ena. Mike moved to Kauai in the late 70’s from Oahu, bringing with him years of experience in board design and building both in Hawaii and California.

I spoke to Mike at his Lawai Valley home about his trade, himself and the continually rising cost of boards. “ My brother began making boards in Malibu during the early sixties. I helped him out before he moved the operation to Morro Bay. They were called Wellman-Foster Surfboards”, foam long boards which you still see around Malibu today. My full-on experience started about twelve years ago at the Brewer factory on (Oahu’s) the North Shore.

“ I worked with Jim Richardson and Tim Bollinger there. Then I worked with Steve Cranston and Tom Parrish at the Bolt Factory. I also worked for Michel Junod and John Orlando, and had a fin company for a number of years with Ted Ketchum on the North Shore.”

Mike offered some advice for anyone interested in getting good at glassing and shaping. “Working in an area where there is a lot of production really helps. You get to do everything, and lot of it! Jack Reeves and John Orlando really helped me to perfect my glassing. My shaping experience came from Michel Junod when he had a ton of boards to shape for the Japanese market in the 70’s. He had me lay out templates and cut out boards.”

Usually shaping a board, which is really functional sculpture, is a skill bathed in legend, something learned from someone with a following. Mike had that experience a while back: I went to high school with Robbie Dick, who shaped for Natural Progression at Malibu. He taught me the basic techniques before I had a chance to apply them.”

Sailboards have superseded surfboards as the main thrust of many surfboard works. Mike’s Waimea shop is no different: “ I used to have a slow period in the summer, board sales would really drop off. Now sailboards are booming in the summer and its has become my busiest period.”

Jimmy Lewis, noted sailboard shaper from Maui, praises Mike’s glassing abilities and has the boards he shapes on Kauai glassed by Mike. I asked Mike about the cost of glassing sailboards: A sailboard uses about three times the material a surfboard does. Most glassed sailboards run from 8’ to 10’; I charge $215 for a glass job on those, $25 for every 6” added and extra for color work.”

I asked about the rising cost of board building, which in retrospect is a deal if you look at ‘60’s board prices and the inflation since then. Mike commented, “We can make boards faster now, which cuts down on the labor cost, but the materials, which are petroleum based, continue to rise. My hidden cost is picking up materials, the hassles involved importing the needed materials which I must constantly replenish. Michel Junod and Jeff Divine also work for me, so I don’t make all the money on my boards.”

Mike is looking forward to the continuing expansion of sailboarding and the steady surfing market to his business thriving. With 27 years of surfing behind him he should congratulate himself on succeeding in a lifestyle which he loves and which his talents have enabled him to prosper in.